Page 11 of Burning Hearts (Chasing Fire: Alaska #1)

ELEVEN

As soon as the doors to the school bus opened, Logan jumped out. His foot caught on the curb, and he stumbled but caught himself before he went down. With every breath, he had to force himself to drag air in and out of his lungs, and his heart pounded in his ears.

He raced down the sidewalk to the corner where she’d been.

Too late.

He was too late.

An older couple stood on the corner, visibly flustered. Cars passed on the street. No one came down the side road.

He stopped in the middle of the road and looked around. Where was she? Logan spotted a cell phone on the ground—Jamie’s.

He went over and swiped it up. The screen had shattered, but it still worked, and it was unlocked. He didn’t…he couldn’t…

“Give me that.” Skye took the phone from him. “First thing cops do? Turn off the PIN.”

Okay. Logan didn’t know why that was relevant right now. Jamie was gone, and he didn’t know…

“Spread out.” Vince headed the group making their way over from the bus. “Ask everyone what they saw.”

Jade squeezed Logan’s arm. “I’m gonna run down to the sheriff’s office and get help.”

Logan nodded.

Skye turned around, standing not too far away. Listening on her phone but not talking.

They needed to find Jamie. Now.

Or Tristan—this had to be about her brother, right? He’d incriminated her in…something. Or dragged her into this because she’d come up here looking for him.

Whoever was responsible, Logan was going to throttle them until he no longer heard Jamie’s scream echoing in his head.

He needed to work the problem.

Find her.

The only way to do that was the tracker ring she’d told him she’d slipped into her brother’s pocket. Logan had picked up the signal at the compound, the GPS having registered there when they’d checked Tucker’s computer. But they hadn’t found the ring or her brother, just destruction and the remnants of a meth lab.

Maybe the company she worked for—the company she ran —had a way to find her.

Someone like Jamie—the person behind their business, the corporation she’d started—was an asset they wouldn’t want to lose.

“Skye, give me her phone.” Logan motioned with his hand.

Everyone else was talking to people on the street. Asking who’d seen what. He spotted Jade a ways down the sidewalk, one of the sheriff’s deputies beside her, heading this way.

Wind whipped at his hair, and he shivered. The exertion of the day and that rush of adrenaline would leave him shaky if he didn’t get a handle on himself.

Skye hung up the phone. “What do you need it for?”

“We don’t have time for questions.” He didn’t like being abrupt, but there was little time to lose. Jamie had been kidnapped.

Just thinking it made his knees weaken.

He found Samuel’s number in the contacts and dialed, putting the call on speaker.

“Jamie, those were good notes.” He had a friendly voice and sounded older. She’d told Logan the guy had retired and come to work for her. A mentor. A friend.

“This is Logan Crawford. Minutes ago, Jamie was abducted. We don’t know who snatched her, but they ambushed her on the street, and she dropped her phone.” He paused long enough to draw in some air so his head quit swimming. “Do you have a way to find her?”

Silence.

“Samuel.”

“Yes.” He cleared his throat. “Logan, you said?”

“You know who I am?”

“Yes, son. I do,” the older man said. “She was taken?”

“Kidnapped, yes. I think it has something to do with her brother.”

Skye shifted closer to him. Jade neared them, and a uniformed deputy stood by her. The others would gather around as soon as they were done talking to bystanders. But he didn’t want to stand around. He wanted to get moving.

Find her.

But right now, he had no direction to go.

Logan said, “Hopefully they don’t realize who they have on their hands.” He thanked God that Jamie lived quietly, not the kind of CEO whose face was on the cover of Forbes magazine. “Do you have a way to find her?”

“I’ll get our tech people on it,” Samuel said. “And I’ll call you back.”

The call ended.

Logan blew out a breath.

Skye squeezed his shoulder. “Rio isn’t picking up.”

Jade said, “Crispin doesn’t get back from his, uh”—she glanced at the cop—“work trip for at least a week.”

Logan nodded. “Thanks for coming.” He shook hands with the deputy.

The guy said, “Mills. You’re talking about Jamie Winters?”

“Any idea who might’ve taken her?”

Mills scratched at his jaw. “She was with me this morning. Identified one of the men from the compound for us, used mug shots. She wasn’t able to ID the deceased but was able to tell us he is—or was—the leader of the group.”

Skye said, “Who did she ID for you?”

Logan glanced at her. Mills said, “Guy goes by Snatch. His name is Ian Weiss. Born and raised outside Fairbanks but finds himself here in Copper Mountain lately.”

“Any idea where to find him?” Logan asked.

Mills lifted his chin. “Because you hotshots are gonna go question him about your friend? If someone is missing, it’s a police matter.”

JoJo stepped up beside Logan on the other side from Skye. She folded her arms. “We’re smokejumpers.”

“Great. So you’re crazy and determined to do whatever it takes to find her.” Mills stepped back. “I’ll inform the sheriff we have a missing person. I suggest you all go back to base and let the police deal with this, given it’s a crime not a fire.”

He turned and strode away.

“What have we got?” Skye spoke mostly to JoJo.

Logan waved the phone. “Her company is looking into a way to find her.”

Jade said, “We could find this Ian Weiss guy and see if he knows where they’ve taken her.”

“We’re assuming the militia guys have her?” JoJo asked.

Logan nodded. “This has to be about her brother. Let’s hope it doesn’t turn into a ransom demand.”

JoJo said, “I’ll find out what everyone else has,” and jogged away.

All Logan could do was try to push away mental images of being delivered Jamie’s finger with a request for millions. His stomach flipped over, and he tried to pray, but all he had the strength to do was breathe.

His phone rang. He had to dig it out of the front pocket of his pants. Bryce calling . Logan managed to say “Hey,” but it came out pretty choked.

“What happened?” his twin asked. “Why can’t I breathe?” Even Bryce sounded choked up.

Logan turned and walked away a couple of paces. He drew in a long breath and held it, wound up on the far sidewalk of the side street. He braced his palm on the side of a building and hung his head, just trying to get control.

His brother worked rescue squad in Last Chance County. He didn’t need to be thrown by Logan’s emotions when it could wind up costing a victim their life.

“What’s going on?”

Logan squeezed his eyes shut. “Jamie…” He managed to choke out. “Someone took her.”

“Okay. Okay.” So much reassurance in his brother’s tone. “I’ll call everyone into the kitchen. We’re at the firehouse. I’ll get them all to pray. Do you want me to call Jude?”

Logan’s brother-in-law was an ATF agent, but he didn’t think that was why Bryce suggested it. “Just pray.”

“We’re on it,” Bryce said. “Call me when you have an update.”

“Thanks.”

“As if you have to say that.” Bryce hung up.

Logan nearly smiled. Of course his twin didn’t think they needed to thank each other for anything, but he still wanted to say it. Thank You, Lord. He headed back to the group, all the smokejumpers now standing together.

Vince said, “White van, no plates. Witnesses described the assailants as locals but wearing ski masks. That was one description, even if it makes no sense. The rest said they didn’t recognize the men, but they were lying or they didn’t want to be involved in it. People around here don’t wanna put themselves in the middle of a militia, so they’re staying out of it.”

Cadee looked at Vince.

Tori said, “What are you, a cop or something?” When Vince said nothing, she glanced around. “My sister is a private investigator. She wouldn’t get up here in time though. Right?” The younger blonde woman bit her lip, and JoJo shifted closer to her.

Orion set a hand on her shoulder. For the first time since the beginning of the season, it seemed like the smokejumpers were a team rather than a disparate group of friends and rivals.

“I just spoke to Bryce,” Logan said. “They’re going to pray. We’re going to find her.”

Vince clapped him on the shoulder. “Let’s go find this Weiss guy. Snatch. Sounds like the kind of man we can persuade to tell us where to find his friends.”

“Let’s go,” Logan said.

* * *

The door clicked shut. Jamie gritted her teeth and tugged against the rope they’d used to tie her to the chair. If she could just…

Her fingers grasped for a knot or something. The cloth they’d tied over her eyes slipped down her face, and she blinked, one eye still covered. Hair everywhere.

They’d dragged her off the street and tossed her in that van.

Everything after that was a wash of rolling around the vehicle. Scrambling back when she tumbled into someone, only to bump into another person. Listening to their laughter. Nothing funny about it.

Now she looked around.

A tiny room. Yellowed glass in the window. A cabin, maybe. There was a rusty vent on the floor. Scratches where furniture had been. Signs someone had called this home.

Once.

Now there was only Jamie and this uncomfortable wooden chair they’d secured her to. She gritted her teeth and fought, but the rope was too tight. It burned her wrists while the muscles in her arms strained, her shoulders stretched too far back.

She finished her scan of the room and saw…boots. Legs. A person—a man.

Jamie tipped forward on the chair and managed to turn it left a little so she could see—“Tristan!” She whispered his name as loudly as she could. Would these guys hear her and come running?

“Tristan, get up!”

He moaned, shifting first before he rolled over and she saw his face.

Jamie gasped. He’d been beaten, badly. Blood coated his lips. One eye was swollen almost shut. The other blinked at her. It took him a few seconds to focus. While he did, she used her shoulder to ease the blindfold the rest of the way down her face. It dropped to hang around her neck.

He moaned her name.

“I know. I’m here, and you’re here. But you need to wake up.” Otherwise, what hope did they have of getting out?

She wasn’t going to be leaving him behind.

Not again.

“Tristan, wake up.”

He rolled to his back, his chest rising and falling fast. “What’s the point?” His voice sounded thick. “They brought you here because I won’t talk.”

“Well, I don’t know anything!” It wasn’t like they could beat her for information if she had no clue who they were and what they were doing.

Apart from the tiny issue of her copying their files.

And putting money in their accounts.

It wasn’t like she’d never pretended to be someone far different from who she really was. If they asked her questions, she would just channel her inner Anna, the server from the pizza joint. Pretend she was only about good times and had no clue about anything they were doing.

But how long would playing dumb last?

They might eventually get frustrated that she wouldn’t tell them anything and just kill her.

“They think I have information.” Tristan paused to take a breath. “They’ll threaten to kill you—or worse—to get me to talk.”

“Maybe we could be not here when that starts.”

He pushed himself back and sat up, leaning against the wall with his legs stretched out in front of him. “Great. But there’s no way to get out, and unless someone is looking for you, we aren’t gonna be rescued.”

Jamie hadn’t even considered rescue.

Was someone looking for her?

Logan’s face filled her mind, and she had to close her eyes. A lone tear slipped out at the corner of her eye anyway. He had to know what’d happened. They’d been on the phone.

As much as she’d been trying not to think about him or that sweet conversation they’d been having seconds before…

She felt hands grab her again, but it was only in her mind.

Would Logan come for her?

She didn’t want him to get hurt trying. But if she were honest, rescue would be amazing. Her hero, showing up like he had last time. Hitting a guy over the head and then telling her they needed to go, so determined to pull her out and save her.

Logan.

She’d fallen for him at a time when her faith in God had been waning. Lord, I need to trust You, not the man I never stopped caring about. The woman she wanted to be—the child of God—needed to rely fully on the Lord and not put all her faith in a man who might let her down. Logan was a human.

A hero.

He would be praying hard and working to save her. She needed to do the same. Put God first and let everything else in her life fall into alignment after that.

“Jamie.” Her brother flexed and stretched out his fingers, as if testing what mobility he had. “Is someone coming to rescue you?”

“I don’t know.”

“They’ll be back. They’ll beat you until I tell them who shot the boss.”

If she hadn’t been tied to the chair, she would’ve throttled him. “Why did you get involved with them in the first place? It’s not like they’re good people.”

“You don’t understand.” Tristan looked away, spitting blood onto the floor beside him.

“Exactly. That’s why I asked. Because I don’t know why the boy I raised, the one I cared for and nursed when he was sick, would ever have gotten in with bad guys.”

Then again, there were a whole lot of things her brother had done that didn’t make sense. Far as she could tell, he had no idea what the militia guys were up to. Even if he’d said he’d wanted to find out, what good was that? It wasn’t like her brother had a plan.

“You don’t need to worry about it. I’ll get us out of this.”

Jamie’s heart squeezed in her chest. “Why did you join them?”

She needed to know if he’d taken on board some kind of awful mission or a toxic belief that had no place in a law-abiding society. No way would she ever have imagined the sweet boy she’d raised would turn into a man like that. Sure, he’d had some run-ins with bad types in high school. He hadn’t always done the right thing. Everyone had things they’d do differently if given the chance of a do-over. No one’s past was perfect.

She just couldn’t reconcile him becoming this.

“Why did you do it?”

He stared at her. “My business is mine. I didn’t need you to come up here thinking I need to be rescued.” He leaned forward a little. “Look where it got you.”

Jamie sniffed. Tears burned her eyes. “I can’t believe I thought you were worth helping.”

“Guess you were wrong.”

She turned away from him, and tears rolled down her cheeks. She’d elevated herself to the role of savior in others’ lives as much as she’d tried to make Logan hers. She needed to get back to basics. Jesus was her Savior. Him alone and no one else. She couldn’t fulfil that role for her brother. He had to trust in God for himself. Tristan needed Him as much as she did.

And right now, alone with her broken heart, she needed Him a whole lot.

What was it she’d read this morning? The first time she’d opened her Bible app in so long.

But without faith it is impossible to please Him . “For he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”

“Maybe He could reward us by getting us out of here.”

Jamie turned to her brother. “That would mean you believe.” But still, she didn’t think those were the rewards the verse was talking about.

“I’m working on it,” Tristan said. “How do you ‘come to God’?”

“By asking Him for help. It’s a prayer.”

“Sounds like one that fits right now.”

Jamie pressed her lips together. “Maybe you could untie me and we could try to get out of here.” Otherwise they’d achieve nothing. They would still be sitting here when those guys came back.

Tristan scooted across the floor, holding his breath…until he groaned. “Pretty sure they cracked a couple ribs.” He grabbed the ropes.

Jamie winced. Out in the hall, or whatever was beyond the door, she heard a thump. “Someone’s coming.”

Tristan froze.

The door handle turned, and a man stuck his head in—the guy from the compound. The one Logan had hit over the head. Oh great. He wasn’t going to be happy about that. He might even take it out on her.

The guy stepped in. “I’ve got a knife. Get her loose and let’s get out of here. We don’t have much time.”

“What’s going on?” She tried to look at her brother but couldn’t turn around that far.

Tristan took the knife from the new guy and cut her loose. “Thanks, Crew.” To her, he said, “I told you not to worry about it, remember?” He helped her up by her elbow. “Let’s go.”

“Why didn’t you tell me we were going to be rescued by your…friend?”

“Because you needed to act like you had no idea, just in case someone else came in.” Tristan led her to the door. “And he’s not coming with us.”

She’d done that before, and Tristan was beaten for it. She’d left him behind.

She looked at Crew. “You should come with us.”

Tristan’s friend looked out into the hallway as if she’d said nothing. “It’s clear. They’re outside waiting for the others, so you only have seconds. Go . ”

Tristan didn’t give her a choice but to go with him. “Don’t worry about him. Just run.”

Jamie wanted to argue. She wasn’t trying to be this man’s savior. She just didn’t want an innocent guy to suffer because she went free. Her head swam. Her wrists hurt, and her legs felt far too unsteady for her to run anywhere.

The structure was a cabin, or had been once. At the end of the hall was a door, the top half consisting of two vertical rectangular windows—frosted glass. She scrambled for the handle and stepped into a smaller room. Old boots lay on the floor, coats on hooks on the sides. Tennis shoes. An umbrella leaned against the corner by the door, a cobweb on the handle.

Tristan eased past her. “I’ll go first. In case anyone is outside.”

“Your friend. Crew. He’s going to get in trouble when they realize we’re gone, right?”

“Crew can take care of himself.”

Unlike her brother? “You stayed behind. Look what happened to you.”

He opened the door. A rush of cooler air swept in and brushed her hair back over her shoulders. She shivered, even though she had a sweater on. They’d taken her pack. She apparently wasn’t going to get it back anytime soon, which meant the company needed to wipe her laptop and the satellite phone remotely so these guys didn’t figure out how to access her confidential information.

As soon as they got to safety, she needed a phone so she could call Samuel.

“Don’t worry about Crew, okay?”

Jamie gritted her back teeth. “Like I wasn’t supposed to worry about you? I’m supposed to not care about anyone. Just be selfish and ‘do me’ or whatever that phrase is.”

“Come on.” He stepped out.

Jamie caught a glimpse of wide blue sky, and her running shoe landed in…snow? She looked around. The place was a homestead.

“How high up are we?” There were at least four inches of powder on the ground, and she was not dressed for freezing temps. Even if this snow was old enough, it’d been repeatedly packed down. Her pants wouldn’t get wet.

“Shhh.” Tristan grabbed her hand, and they ran along the back of the cabin toward a barn. A plane passed overhead, red-and-white coloring but not close enough she could make out anything else.

“Wait here.” Tristan ducked inside, and she pressed her back to the aging wood beside the door. How long was she going to have to?—

An engine revved.

Tristan drove out of the barn on an ATV. “Get on!”

She pushed out all argument or rational thought from her mind and swung her leg over, climbing on behind him. Tristan gunned it, and they jerked forward, picking up speed on the snow. He headed for the peak of a hill in front of them.

As he slowed, she looked over her shoulder.

In time to see the cabin explode.

Above it, someone jumped out of the plane. Her heart skipped a beat.

Another.

Another.

Parachutes popped open above her, high in the sky.

Heat from the cabin rushed at her like a wave. Tristan propelled them over the edge, and she saw a valley stretched out before them. Endless green rolling hills, craggy cliffs, and trees dotted the landscape below the snow line. Such an expanse that it was like being able to see all of Alaska at once from up here.

The ATV wheel caught, and they started to slide downhill.

Jamie screamed.